Fun Facts About Flying Squirrels

There are two species of flying squirrels living in the forests of North America: southern and northern. They prefer forests with ample tree canopy.

Flying squirrels don’t really fly, they glide – like superheroes with a cape! Imagine you are wearing a blanket on your back, and it’s attached to your wrists and ankles. On a flying squirrel, this is called the patagium. It’s similar to gliding with a parachute. This article, in the Journal of Mammalogy, compares flying squirrels to hang gliders.

The tail of the flying squirrel has smooth fur and is horizontally flat. It is used as both a rudder and a stabilizer during glides.

Flying squirrels live in holes in trees or build nests of leaves and twigs. They have been known to use nest boxes and sometimes even kick birds out of their nest boxes while eating their eggs!

They store acorns for winter. They also eat fruit, other nuts, insects, and mushrooms.

Southern flying squirrels are about as common as the Eastern gray squirrel, but we seldom see them because flying squirrels are nocturnal. Notice the giant eyes in the photo below of a Carolina northern flying squirrel.

Photo credit: Corinne Diggins, Virginia Tech/USGS VCFWRU

The Carolina northern flying squirrel is an endangered subspecies of the northern flying squirrel. It lives at elevations 4,500 feet above sea level or higher. As of 2015, its habitat had been reduced to nine mountain peaks in the southern Appalachians. Scientists refer to these fragments of habitat as “sky-islands”.

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles

Photo credit: USFWS Endangered Species Program, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

I am currently taking a nature literature course. As part of my class, I'm reading The Windward Road by Archie Carr. Originally published in 1956, this engaging, scientific travelogue follows Dr. Carr as he wanders through the Caribbean islands studying sea turtles. This book drew attention to the plight of the sea turtles and their need for conservation. Today's Sea Turtle Conservancy has its origins in this book.

At the time of the book's publication, no one knew where the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle nested. People speculated that babies were born in the sea or even that it was a cross between a loggerhead and a green. Carr was puzzled by this turtle.

Reading his words, I could relate to Carr's confusion. I've always heard that the Kemp's Ridley is the rarest of all sea turtles, but I never knew why.

After publication of the book, the primary Kemp's Ridley nesting ground was finally identified by scientists - on a ten mile stretch of Mexican beach. Even today, 95% of females still nest on this beach. Imagine! No wonder they are so rare.

According to NOAA, the population of Kemp's Ridley has fluctuated but it is generally in decline. In 1947, a video recording showed 40,000 nesting females. By the mid-1980's, this number was down to 700. Thanks to conservation efforts, things were looking up for the Kemp's Ridley in the early 2000's, with almost 7,000 nests in 2003. Unfortunately, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has further decimated the numbers of this critically endangered species. If you look at the range of where they live, you can see why. I hope and pray for their recovery.

Unlike in Carr's day, when turtles were banded with metal tags, today's turtles are monitored using satellite tracking. You can even "adopt" sea turtles! And care of injured and wounded sea turtles has greatly improved. So there is hope! Maybe I will have to take a trip over to the National Aquarium and see if I can meet some Kemp's Ridleys ...

Celebrate Endangered Species Day!

Royal Bengal Tiger
Thanks to the North Carolina Zoological Society, I learned that tomorrow is Endangered Species Day. What are endangered species? Simply put, they are plants and animals that are in danger of dying off forever. Endangered species might be at risk from climate change, illness, habitat destruction, or all three.

You can learn about endangered species at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Program or research endangered species (in the US) by habitat or name at the Endangered Species Coalition. The Educational Materials page from the Coalition's Endangered Species Day website has links to lesson plans and more. After you've read up, you can test your knowledge of endangered species with this FWS quiz.

Check out these fun ways to celebrate or plan to attend an upcoming endangered species event. Print out stickers and learn how to protect wildlife. If you're a Girl Scout, there's even a special badge commemorating Endangered Species Day 2010!


Photo credit: Siddhartha Lammata, via flickr // CC BY 2.0

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

"I am the Lorax ... I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues ..." from The Lorax by Dr. Suess

Today would have been Dr. Suess' 105th birthday. As a child, I loved hearing my father read Suess' rhyming tales. My favorite book was Horton Hears a Who with its now-famous refrain: "A person's a person, no matter how small."

But as an adult, I'm partial to The Lorax, Suess' "shortish ... oldish ... brownish ... and mossy" environmentalist. He speaks for the trees and the birds and fish under his care. The Lorax does his best to convince the Once-ler to think about how his manufacturing plant is harming the environment before it's too late.

At the time Suess published The Lorax in 1971, the environmental movement was in its infancy in the United States. People were just beginning to think about saving the planet on a global level. The first Earth Day was held in 1970; the Environmental Protection Agency was formed that same year.

Today, almost 40 years later, the Lorax has many friends standing behind him. On Earth Day 2008, Conservation International, Dr. Suess Enterprises, and Random House started The Lorax Project™ to raise environmental awareness. Visit the website to take a pledge to help the Lorax (to do things like recycling). Read about 20 ways that you can help reduce your environmental impact and learn what students across the world are doing to save the planet. You can also read about endangered species like Golden Lion Tamarins, Red Pandas, and Lemurs.